What is sputtering?

by | May 29 2015

Sputtering is a process that uses gaseous plasma to dislodge atoms from the surface of a solid target material. The atoms are deposited to form an extremely thin coating on the surface of the substrates. It is a technique often used to deposit thin films of semiconductors, CDs, disk drives, and optical devices. Sputtered films exhibit excellent uniformity, density, purity and adhesion. It is possible to produce alloys of precise composition with conventional sputtering, or oxides, nitrites and other compounds by reactive sputtering.

Process of sputtering:

Ions of inert gas are accelerating into target

Target is eroded by the ions via energy transfer and is ejected in the form of neutral particles

Neutral particles from the target traverse and are deposited as a thin film onto the surface of the substrates